Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The heat, Broadway and King Tut

It's been so stinkin' hot in NJ for the past few weeks and between the 90+ temps and hot flashes, I can't stay in my craft room without needing to change my shirt every half hour.  It's ok if I happen to be doing laundry (my craft room is in the basement), but I've been much more content to stay in the lovely air conditioned portions of the house and find other stuff to do.  I've cleaned out the linen closet in the bathroom and found 6 boxes of tissues buried all the way in the back; I've cleaned out the bottom of my closet and found 4 pair of shoes I forgot I had; I've gone through the bookcases and taken out books to donate to the library and found 3 books I never read; I've picked out a new floor for the kitchen and a new stove too, debated about taking down the wallpaper and decided that job could wait until the fall.  And for the past two Sundays I've taken a trip into NYC with two of my daughters to see two great Broadway shows:  The Lion King and The Addams Family.  We had a ball and if it hadn't been 100+ degrees on both of those trips and getting stuck in the only train car without AC (both times) we would have had an even better time.  I live less than 20 miles from NYC and can see the city skyline from my house (well, from the bridge down the block), and I very seldom go there.  But these 2 trips and shows were fabulous and if you ever get a chance to see them, run -don't walk. 


The Lion King is such a huge, colorful, brilliant musical production - you are overwhelmed and don't know where to look first - just fabulous!  My kids grew up watching this video, so it was as familiar as it was new.

The Addams Family was hysterical and it's 2 leading stars are Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. Every one of these characters had a fabulous voice and kept you in stitches from the beginning to the end especially Jackie Hoffman who plays Grandma.  I'd watch Nathan Lane read the phone book, so this was such fun for me.

Then, as if I wasn't happy enough, we walked a half block to the Discovery Times Square Exposition and saw the King Tut and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit.  It was magnificent, could have stayed there for hours but was anxious to get back on the NJ Transit train car with no AC and sweat some more.....

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Blog Awards

Thanks very much to Andi at Never A Dull Moment for these two awesom blog awards - I truly appreciate it! Please stop by and visit Andi's great blog for some wonderful inspiration.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Cleaning off my desk

It's Friday and I have a messy craft desk, so I thought I'd make a few quick cards with the scraps.
 
I started with some Stampin' Up solid cardstock for the base of the cards, then used some scraps from a DCWV stack to cut out this adorable little birdhouse at 4" from the Cindy Loo cricut cartridge, and stamped a few images from a Stampin' Up stamp set with chocolate brown ink.


For the next two cards, I used the other two pieces of Stampin' Up solid cardstock for the base, and more scraps from a DCWV stack to cut these little fish from the Creat a Critter cricut cartridge.  The fish bowl on the left was cut at 4" and the little fish was cut at 2"; the fish at the right was cut at 3".  They just need a sentiment and they're ready to go in the box of cards for Operation Write Home.  Now my desk is clean and there are four more cards for the OWH box.  Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Operation Write Home

As the weather this week in New Jersey continued to boil, I spent lots of time in my craft room working on a box of cards for Operation Write Home.  Last weekend I participated in their blog tour and visited over one hundred wonderful blogs and saw some fabulous cards by incredibly creative crafters.  After reading more about Operation Write Home, I committed myself to making at least 50 cards for them to send to servicemen and women over seas.  Now my thoughts turned to the kind of cards to make - a nice assortment would be good, nothing with glitter (not allowed), all A2 size (preferred size), this would be fun.  And as luck would have it, I had just received a card making refill kit from Creating Keepsakes that had enough supplies to make 50 assorted cards.  So every day this week I spent a few hours putting together these cards and I have to tell 'ya, I'm very impressed with this card making kit and think I'm going to order another one.  The price of the kit was reduced to $15 which comes out to 30 cents per card and all I needed was adhesive - all the cardstock, embellies, cards and envelopes are included and bagged separately for each card. 



I should be finished making the rest of the cards by Monday, then off they'll go to be sorted and sent to troops stationed over seas.  If you're a card maker, please consider making some cards or a donation to this wonderful organization.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Monday, July 5, 2010

What inspires you when it's too hot to do anything?

New Jersey is in it's first heat wave of the summer and the temperature hit 101 degrees in Central Jersey today.  My grass is brown and crunchy, my flowers are so limp and thirsty.  Only the little brown birds are having a ball playing in the water fountain in my flower bed, so that was my inspiration for today.

This first card was made using kraft cardstock for the base and scraps of DCWV solid cardstock for the flowers and butterflies, and two ribbon scraps from Paper Tray Ink.  The sentiment is from Unity Stamp Co.

The second card also used kraft cardstock for the base and scraps from DCWV.  The ribbon is a scrap from Martha Stewart and the embellies are from Stampin' Up.  The bird stamp and sentiment are both from Unity Stamp Co.  As you can see, all the brown was inspired by my crunchy grass.  I hope it's a bit cooler where you are!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Freedom isn't free...

We've all heard the saying that freedom isn't free. So this holiday weekend as America celebrates it's 234th year of independence, fly your flag, enjoy your freedom and give thanks to those who gave it to us in the past and preserve it for us today.
This cute little birthday card was stamped using a House Mouse stamp and colored with Copic Markers. It will be added to a pile of cards I've been making for Operation Write Home that you can read about here.  Go here to see some great creations on their blog hop this weekend, and please consider making some homemade cards or a donation to this great cause.  Enjoy your weekend, and God Bless America!